


Exactly Who You’re Supposed To Be

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben Solo is a Mess, Creative Solutions To Nightmares, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Protective Poe Dameron, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24265531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Ben can’t sleep after a nightmare. Poe tries to help.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Gen Prompt Bingo Round 18





	Exactly Who You’re Supposed To Be

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Dreams and Nightmares
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was when Ben woke up that he was relieved, looking frantically around his hut and praying that he didn’t have to go back to sleep. He was tired, so very tired — could nightmares really take a lot out of you, he wondered — but he wasn’t about to fall back asleep, to have that trapped feeling yet again.   
  
He supposed that the best way to really get out of this was to call Poe. Calling Poe was the best option; he had to do this. It was the best thing he could do, considering that he wasn’t about to fall back asleep.   
  
He’d be damned if he fell back asleep.   
  
He got up, walked over towards the console, and contacted Poe. Sitting back on the bed, he watched even as Poe’s face, bleary and clearly sleep-deprived, appeared on screen. “You having problems sleeping too?” Poe said.   
  
“Yeah. I had a horrible nightmare that someone was hurting you,” Ben said.   
  
“That was a silly dream, wasn’t it?” Poe said lightly.   
  
He was trying to make Ben feel better. Ben knew that. Still, he said, “I just worry about you a lot, that’s all.”  
  
“It’s okay, Ben. No matter what happens, I’m coming back home. Promise.”  
  
He said it with so much certainty that for a moment, Ben could believe it. Then, “Why are you up?”  
  
“Nightmares myself. Mostly about...stuff I saw on my missions.”  
  
Ben felt the familiar ache in his heart for Poe. Poe saw so much, and somehow he still managed to stay so sunny and optimistic and durasteel strong. He wished he had that ability, when he swore that he heard the galaxy in his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. Then, “I wish I was there. To help.”  
  
“You’re helping me right now. Even if we’re on opposite ends of the screen.”  
  
“Good." Ben sighed as he spoke. "I wish I could do more."  
  
He wished that Poe and he weren’t miles away. He wished that they could actually touch. It seemed that Poe was just an image, no touching — even an image didn’t do justice to Poe’s beauty and vibrance. It didn’t show how every bit of kindness he showed was a miracle in and of itself.   
  
"Talk to me,” he said. “About anything. Anything you want.”  
  
“Okay. Well...I’ve been thinking of watching this holovid. About a slave from Tatooine who falls in love with a Sith Lord.”  
  
Ben snorted. “Like that would happen in real life.”  
  
Poe laughed. “I’m just checking it out for the cheese factor. I need something cheesy to watch before I go to bed.” A beat. “I admit, I do miss you, Ben. Even seeing your image isn’t the same...”  
  
“I know." Ben sighed. “Honestly, I was thinking...one day, I’ll just leave the Academy and we can take a joyride in the Falcon together.”  
  
Poe laughed — so abruptly it startled BB-8, who started beeping in confusion. Poe turned to the droid, obviously offscreen. “It’s okay, buddy. Ben just said something funny.” He turned back to Ben. “BB misses you too. He absolutely adores you, you know.” A beat. “You know, you think you’re something bad, but you’re one of the greatest things in my life.”  
  
“I hope I am.” Ben said.   
  
Did he need to say that he loved Poe? That Poe was everything to him? Did he need to prepare a speech, or a list? How would he even begin to say how much of a gift Poe really was to him, and how grateful he was?   
  
“Tell me about anything,” Ben said. “I mean...I don’t want to go to sleep just yet.” A beat. “Just talk to me about whatever you want. Even if it’s random.”   
  
Poe paused. Then, “The Academy’s been going well. I think I’m fitting in, finally.”  
  
“About time,” Ben said. “I want people to see what I...like about you. Not just what your mistakes were.”  
  
Poe raised an eyebrow. “What do you like?”  
  
“A lot. Sometimes I wonder how you stay so strong, even with what you’ve seen." Ben sighed. “The Academy’s been wearing on me. Sometimes I don’t want to be powerful, or have great expectations on me. I just want to be...normal. Nobody.”  
  
“There’s no such thing as nobody.”  
  
“You know what I mean.” Ben ran a hand through his hair. “I want to just be Ben. I’m tired of being powerful, and being told how powerful I am. I’m not...perfect.”  
  
“You don’t have to be." Poe said. “You’re perfect, just as is. You’re exactly who you’re supposed to be.”  
  
Ben smiled, and he could already feel the warmth in his heart pooling there. “So are you.”  
  
Poe smiled back. Then, “Ben...you can leave the comm on, while you sleep. It won’t quite be like we’re sharing a hut, but...”  
  
“Yeah. It’ll work.”  
  
Ben lay down then. Closed his eyes. The blue glow from the console was more soothing than it had any right to be — especially since Ben knew Poe was with him, in a way.


End file.
